Unfinished Business
by Sbstevenson2
Summary: A take on the season 7 finale. Regina getting to see Robin again. Co-written with Hollie (outlawqueenbey44)


_Here's a little take on the season 7 finale that Hollie (outlawqueenbey44) and I thought up. Let us know what you think! :)_

{***************************}

Death isn't what she expected. It's soft and airy, ethereal in a strange sort of way. The light simply leaves her body, floats into the absence of time, fades from existence without a hint of sadness or guttural pain from those who watch her go.

The last thing she sees is Henry's face, gripping her hand and cupping her cheek in sweet, anguished sorrow as he begs her not to leave him with tear stained eyes. She wishes she could have told him it would be alright, that she would be okay, he would be just fine, that she loved him one last time.

But death takes her before she can promise him all those things, winds it's hands around her chest and tugs her down gently.

She drifts for a while, through a blank space that invades her mind, until she feels life disappear completely within her, a last breath parting out of her lips as she closes her eyes, ready to let go, to be surrounded by some warm light that would take her soul away to that better place.

At least she thought that was what would happen.

What's strange is the feeling of solid ground underneath her, grass blades tickling her palms, a light breeze ghosting over her skin.

Frowning, she sits up, opening her eyes only to realize it's not clouds or whatever the eternal life looks like but trees that surround her. Thick, tall pines that blow in the wind above. She recognizes these woods - this forest holds so many memories for her. It's the place she'd gone to for a quiet reprieve when things in Storybrooke became overwhelming. It's where Robin had found her, time and time again.

But she shouldn't be here. She was just in Gold's shop with Henry.

She stands up, walking toward where she knows she'll find the town again.

As she makes her way through the clearing of trees, she spots a figure perched upon a log. The log where her soulmate had pickpocketed her letter, reading over Rumplestiltskin's words the day she realized she wasn't an only child, and the confidence boost from her mentor she'd always found solace in was a lie. Sitting on that log had been the first time she'd been honest with someone, found someone who was willing to simply listen, even if he was a thief, he was her thief.

The person's back is facing her, shoulders slumped slightly, but it's so familiar. It's the shape of a man she'll never forget. But that can't be. He's gone, dead, obliterated.

"Robin?" she asks tentatively, stepping closer to the log. _Their log._

Her breath freezes in wait as he turns around, feeling herself consumed by the color of bright, cerulean blue eyes that peer up at her.

"Regina." His breath puffs out into a misty cloud around her. The softest whisper of familiar, deep timbered sotto breathing out her name has all the air in Regina's lungs whooshing out in one swift go.

He's smiling at her, that crooked half crinkled grin she used to wake up to in the earliest dawn hours. She could nearly touch him if her feet weren't rooted to the spot, but her heart hesitates at the thought that this is real, in a strange way. He is dead, she is dead, and for this to happen, for him to be standing just three feet away from her, it feels a lot like a flickering of hope she'd long given up on.

His eyes scan her face, waiting patiently as her mind battles with her heart. His hand moves, palm open to her. It's with the peek of his tattoo that she is shaking her head, forcing her legs to move, a glow low in her belly, pulsing with every step closer to his smile.

He stands up, meeting her halfway and wrapping his arms around her in a tight embrace. She inhales heavily, burying her face into the crook of his neck, filling her nose with the pine scent she's never forgotten.

It's not enough, not close enough, her fingers slide over every part of his shoulders, down to his chest, into the soft, sandy brown hair, and back down his spine. Feeling him. It has her heart stuttering in impossible belief that she can touch him, can _feel_ him touching her, hugging her, his lips pressed softly into her hair.

Robin pulls back, far too soon for her liking, but she shivers as his hands run down her sides, finding a familiar resting place on her hips, and Regina can't help but smile at it.

The heat of unshed tears burn her eyes as she feels his fingers tip her chin up, meeting her gaze gently with a soft smile.

"Hello, my love."

Her lungs tremble a rather breathless, "Hi," back, a forgotten lightness creeping into her voice. Robin smiles, leans into her palm that moved to cup his cheek, into the soft swiping of her thumb beneath his eyes. Those bright blue, steady eyes she thinks about everytime she closes her own. She wants to kiss him, has missed his lips, missed everything about him, for far too long. Leaning up a touch nervously, she stares questioningly into his eyes, seeking permission. He smirks, that damn dimpled smirk of his that she loves so much, and presses her lips to his, praying that they still feel the same, not like a photograph as it was with the other Robin all those years ago. His lips meet hers, and he pulls her closer, wrapping his arms around her waist tightly. She can feel the heat of his body, and she smiles into their kiss, glad to feel him, to see him, to have him again.

His lips move over hers gently for a few moments before deepening their embrace. One of her hands grips his bicep while the other tangles into the hair at the base of his neck, trying to pull him even closer than they already are. She moans into his mouth as his part, letting his tongue move along hers.

They pull back, huffing out short breaths and smiling brightly at each other. She's missed that smile. Was always afraid she'd forget it after a while, but it turned out it was just another part of him that was cemented into her mind permanently. He sinks his teeth into his bottom lip rather shyly, a move that always sent a shiver down her spine.

Tears spring to her eyes as she looks upon the face of her soulmate, the man who gave up everything to let her live. She shakes her head in confusion. This doesn't make sense. She remembers saying goodbye to Henry, remembers sacrificing herself for her son's happiness. Robin had taught her so many decades ago that true love was just that, a sacrifice, giving up everything you have for the person you loved. If he's here, in a place that looks so much like her home, that must mean this is the underworld they'd willingly gone to so long ago.

"Am I…?"

"No," he breathes, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear before dropping his hand back to her hips. He gives her a little squeeze before saying, "You sacrificed yourself for Henry, but you're not dead yet, love."

Her eyebrows furrow, confusion coloring her features. "If I gave up my life, then how am I not gone yet?"

Robin chuckles, stepping back and taking her hand. He leads her to their log, sitting down and wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

"There's still something tethering you to the real world," he says, struggling to find the words to explain. "I'm not sure what it is, but you feel different - you feel... not all the way gone just yet."

She looks around, eyebrows pinching as she tries to work out what's going on. "Is this the underworld?"

He nods, and she drops her head down dismally. Hades' world had been awful for the souls caught here, they all had been so miserable waiting forever to complete their unfinished business, to have a chance to move on to a better place.

"I'm sorry. This isn't a place I ever wanted you to be. It's awful here from what I remember."

"This underworld isn't the quite the same," he assures. "Since Hades left, it's been much more peaceful. It's very similar to daily life up there."

She cocks a brow curiously, lacing their fingers together.

"It's oddly tranquil, in a strange sort of way. Everyone here has some sort of purpose - a job if you will - taking care of this town as we wait to finish whatever is holding us here."

Regina sighs and nods her head, happy to know that at least he hasn't been tortured for two decades. "Is it me? Your unfinished business… is that why you're stuck here still?"

She has a feeling she is but would also feel terrible knowing that he's been stuck in limbo for so long waiting for her and never being able to move on to the light, to the better place.

He smiles gently at her, turning so his thigh is pressed against her bent knee. He takes her hands in his, wrapping them up in his warmth. "Partly," he shrugs truthfully, bringing her hands up to his lips and pressing a loving kiss to her knuckles. "Part of my unfinished business is something I never got to tell you."

She tilts her head to one side, shaking it and asking what he means.

"Regina," he says softly, as if not to disturb the silence of nature around them. She can hear birds chirping in the trees around them and leaves rustling from the gentle breeze that's blowing. She looks into his eyes, wondering.

"I never got to tell you that I love you."

Those tears she's done so well to keep at bay spring to her eyes again, a lone tear slipping down her cheek as she lets out a little laugh. Of course she always knew he loved her, he gave up his entire existence for her, but hearing those three little words makes her heart skip a beat. She smiles through her tears as she sees his eyes glistening wetly as well. "I always loved you, and I'm sorry I never got to tell you."

Regina shakes her head at him, reaching up to wipe the tears lining his lashes, smiling gently at the relieved sigh he lets go. "I know you do, Robin. I always knew." His eyes flutter shut, missing the beaming smile parting her lips. "And I love you, too. More than anything." She leans in, pressing another kiss to his lips.

"What is the rest of your unfinished business?" she questions as they pull apart.

He sighs, sits back a fraction, his eyes moving to gaze at the dirt stuck to his boot. If she didn't know better she'd say he looks nervous, running a hand down his face, behind his neck, as he chews on his lower lip. His fingers scratch lightly at his jaw before bringing it back down to hold hers in her lap. "My children," he confesses, "I just need to know that they're okay."

"They are wonderful," she beams, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Both of them are perfect, and a lot like you." She sighs, looking into his eyes before giving him a sad smile, saying, "They miss their dad."

"Yeah?"

She nods, swallows a little heavier at the weight Robin's eyes scan her face. He knows, he always did, when something wasn't right, when she wasn't feeling exactly herself. Sighing, she thumbs over his knuckles, decidedly not looking at him out of a flicker of guilt.

"A lot happened after you died, some decisions I'm not exactly proud of, some that were out of my control."

His hums curiously, dips his chin down to meet her eyes, seeing the glimmer of pain behind the honesty.

"Whatever it is Regina, you can tell me."

She tries to smile, fails pitifully, but tries anyway.

"Roland went back to the Enchanted Forest."

"He didn't stay with you?" His voice drops an octave as he swallows thickly at Regina's sad frown.

"Henry ran away to New York; Emma and I went to go find him, and by the time I got home…" She sniffs hard, stifling her own pain at the memory of finding her other son gone, "John figured it was best he live where his father was from."

"They took him? How is that possible? They knew I wanted Roland to stay with you. They knew how much you meant to both of us." His scowl deepens as he draws in a heavy breath.

He's angry. It's written across his face, a tension in his shoulders she smoothes a palm over. She shrugs, "They did what they thought was best."

"Still, Regina." He turns, squeezes her hands, pulling them both up to his lips, "You have to know I never would have wanted that. You loved my son like your own, and I trusted my men to understand that."

She sighs, "Thank you. There was definitely a point when I wondered if-"

"No." He cuts her off, "He should have stayed with you. In my heart I trusted that you would give him the best life possible, and I don't doubt my men have tried in their own right, but I wish he would have stayed with his mother."

His confidence in her throws her off for a second, though it shouldn't; he was always the one to have complete faith in her. The steadiness in his eyes that crinkle at the corners with a smile makes her bite down on her bottom lip as she chuckles wetly, leaning in to rest her forehead on his own.

"I went back to find him."

Robin stills at that, leaning back to capture her eyes once more.

"It was about a year after you died, and I wasn't entirely sure if I should even try." She tucks a hair behind her ear, "But I wanted to know he was alright."

"And?" Robin clenches against her fingers, his gaze burning into her, waiting.

Regina beams, running a free hand through Robin's hair, "He's doing really great." The smile he levels her with nearly knocks the breath from her lungs. His eyes flush with renewed tears, the crinkles in his eyes deepening. "He is? He's okay? Happy?"

"Yeah." Regina chuckles wetly back, pressing a kiss to Robin's cheek as he blows out a hard, relieved breath. "He just turned twenty six a few months back." She grips his hand, "You have an amazing son. Honestly, he's incredible. There is so much about him that is just like you. Wild, still so sweet, adventurous, an outlaw in his own right."

Robin smirks at that.

"John and I came to a decision after I found him that every summer Roland would come stay with me. And that when he was old enough he could decide where he wanted to live. He moved into my house about eight years ago, and we just found him his own place about two years back with a few friends."

"Regina, thank you." The tears spill over Robin's eyes, coursing down his cheeks as he wraps her up in a tight, fierce hug.

"There is nothing to thank me for." She nuzzles into him further, carding through the hair at the back of his neck, "I love him like he is my own. We talked about you a lot. We still do."

"You do?"

She hums with a nod, biting down on her bottom lip with a grin, "All the time."

"Only good things I should hope." He smiles back.

Regina chuckles, leans into Robin's shoulder, "Oh, he knows how much of a pain in the ass you were when we first met."

"Oh!" Robin bumps into her playfully, "I was nothing but a charming gentleman."

"Mmmm, one who refused to stay out of my way, pestering me every chance you could."

"Yes well, what can I say, it was fun pushing your buttons."

"You were quite good at that." Her brow cocks in jest, eyeing her soulmate up with a glint, "You were quite good at a lot of things."

He takes her bait, dips his chin down to capture her lips, pressing softly against her as a hand wraps around her back, securing them tightly together. He swallows the hum at the back of her throat, grinning into the kiss further.

They part with a pop.

"Thank you again Regina. I know you say I don't have to say it, but I've been walking around this place for years, and knowing that Roland is happy-" He breathes in heavily, eyes fluttering shut as he smiles, "I feel lighter."

She sits back a touch, interlocking their fingers and bringing them to rest in her lap. She smiles up at him as he leans in to press a kiss to her cheek.

Pulling back, he asks, "How's my daughter?"

"Bee's great."

"Her name is Bee?"

Regina chuckles, patting his cheek. "No, it's a nickname I have. Zelena named her after you actually."

"Really?"

Regina hums, deciding to not get into how her niece's name splintered her every time she heard it.

"She is beautiful. Nearly nineteen. She has the brightest blue eyes just like you, long, sandy brown hair, dimples, has quite the knack for archery. I gave her your bow when she turned sixteen."

Robin beams at that. She has a part of him. They are connected.

"Bee is… she's her own person. Has a strength and guidance inside her that I don't think many of us understand fully. She's pure, but I think…" Regina blows out a breath, "I think not having her dad around in the beginning, she searched for a long time to figure out who she was."

He shrinks slightly at that, his brow creasing heavily. "I wish I knew her, that I was there to help her."

"You were though. I think that's why she is who she is. Much like Roland, they both have this part of you that keeps them true and honest. Whether or not it's the easiest path, they are very much their father's children. They love fiercely. They are _loved_ fiercely. "

For a second Robin's brow creases at that, a glimmer of paternal concern sparking in his eyes. "No boy will ever be good enough for my daughter."

Regina shakes her head with a breathless laugh, "Over protective daddy much."

"She's my little girl. She shouldn't be allowed to date, ever, in my opinion. Do me a favor, torch any boy who even thinks he is good enough for her." He grins mischievously, though Regina catches the honesty underneath the jest.

"I don't think we have to worry about boys per se."

Robin's gaze narrows curiously, scans Regina's face as she smiles, bringing their interlocked hands up to her lips and pressing a feather light kiss to his knuckles, "She has a girlfriend."

"Oh?"

"Alice is… sweet. A bit outside the box, but they are good for each other. Adventurous enough but they ground one another. You'd like her."

"If she has your blessing then I am happy they have one another. Love is important."

"You're right. It is." She blinks back the burn of tears, thumbing over his scruff for a quiet moment. "I've missed you."

"And I you." He leans into her palm, presses a chaste kiss to her hand. "You've given me everything I could have ever wanted." He sighs, "But it's not your time Regina, you need to go back."

She frowns, drops her hand from his face and into her lap, "I could stay. With you. I could let go. Our kids will be fine."

"You're probably right," Robin concedes, reaching to lace her hands into his own once more. "But they still need you Regina. They need their mother."

She doesn't disagree with him, but she doesn't want to let him go either, feeling literally stuck between a rock and a hard place. Exhaling heavy, she leans into his shoulder, letting her eyes flutter shut, listening to the rhythmic breathing rolling through him.

He feels… peaceful.

He deserves to have that.

She can help him get it.

Regina stands then, stretching her hand out to his. "Come on," she murmurs, pulling him up and tucking his hand into her own.

He follows quietly.

They make their way, hand in hand, through the trees toward the cave. Every step has her throat tightening, a lump forming high in her chest.

As she steps into the cave, Robin right behind her, she's hit with a wave of emotions. She's torn, conflicted knowing her children still need her, and she isn't ready to give up on them yet, but it's Robin, she wants to stay with him.

It dawned on her as they talked about their children that him searching for answers that they were all okay is the exact same reason why she is here - _he_ is her unfinished business. The guilt of how he died, regardless of how heroic and unselfish it was, it ate away at her for years, and worse, she never knew if he was able to cross over, be in that better place everyone seeks in the end, if he was able to find peace in the afterlife.

She squeezes his hand, smiling softly at the way he presses a kiss to her temple. He feels different the closer they get to the bridge. The memories of her parents moving on creep into her mind. They felt this way too, this strange, ethereal buzzing.

Robin stops, pulls on her hand to bring her back to him. They're almost to the edge of the stone cliff, and she knows the light will appear any moment now. Regina turns, finding his eyes shining wetly. "Robin?"

He smiles and pulls her into his arms again, kissing her hard instead of answering her question. She meets him equally, wrapping her arms around his neck, fingers carding through the short hairs at the base of his scalp. Robin pulls back, runs the tip of his nose along the bridge of hers, dotting a line of petal soft kisses to the apple of her cheek, with a whispered _I love you_ spilling from his lips.

"I love you, too," she breathes back, shifting to catch his lips once more, chaste and gentle.

His hands run up and down her back, into the curve of her waist and over her arms, swooping around and over again. A calm, feathered warmth heats her back. The light, white glow illuminates his features - the brightness of his eyes and the slight silver of his hair.

"You ready?" She smiles, regardless of the tears that build. He nods imperceptibly, a slight frown in his brow as he pulls her hands up to his lips, kissing each palm. "Come on." She leads them to the edge, Robin's face easing in tension as the light surrounds him.

"I think I can see the forest." He sighs, relieved.

Standing beside him, hands clutching his own, she turns, pressing a kiss to his shoulder as the tears build. She isn't sure of the rules down here. She is technically dead, could very easily walk into that light with him and be together for eternity, but she isn't sure if she has fully passed on just yet. The magic here is tricky, she remembers that, and she'd never want to risk messing up his chance at eternal peace by trying to go with him.

The thought of having to say goodbye clenches at her heart, making those tears she's been holding back fall down her cheeks. "I'm not ready to let you go," her confession whimpering out, fractured and dejected. Robin turns, pulling her softly into his arms. She breathes him in, tears wetting the collar of his jacket, whispering how much she loves him.

Robin pulls back, tears on his cheeks as well now, and smiles sympathetically down at her. He reaches up, wiping a tear from her face and cupping her cheek. She leans into his touch, closing her eyes for the briefest of seconds, trying to memorize the feel of him again.

"Regina," he says soothingly. "You have to go back. Our children always comes first."

She squeezes her eyes shut, tears spilling out as she swallows heavily against the burn in her chest.

He's right, she knows he is, but it doesn't stop the crumbling feeling of her heart. "I know," she whispers sadly, "but I'm going to miss you so much."

The joy of seeing him again, knowing he's alright, helps, but she's going to miss him even more now.

"I love you so much, Robin."

"And I love you, Regina," he says, caressing her cheek with the pad of his thumb. "I always have."

She sniffs pitifully, eyeing up the white light in front of them. It won't last forever, at least she doesn't think it will, and isn't exactly akin to taking that chance. "You should go," she mumbles, nodding but not really hearing her own voice, rather preferring to soak in every last second with him.

"When you're ready, I'll be there."

Her smile barely reaches her eyes as she tries to quiet the voice inside her mind saying she's ready now, because he's right; their kids still need her, and they will find each other again, when the timing is right. When she is supposed to move on, he will be there waiting.

"You promise?"

Robin chuckles, that deep laugh she's missed so much, and assures her, "I promise."

She nods, taking a deep, calming breath and stepping back from his embrace. She wipes the tears off of her cheeks and takes his hands in hers. He looks over toward the light, and she brings herself back to reality.

"Go," she laments, pulling him to her one last time. She presses her lips to his, their tears mixing together, bittersweet and salty. "Be at peace Robin."

He kisses her harder, holds her tight for a long second before pulling back slightly, resting his forehead against hers. He smiles, bumps his nose gently to her own, a secret unspoken affection between them she'd always adored.

Laughing breathily at the memory, she steps back, uncaring to wipe the tears now and gives his hands one last squeeze. "I'll see you again."

"I'll be waiting my love. Always."

He lets go of her hands and walks toward the light. She smiles through her tears as his form slowly fades, accepting him, welcoming him home.

He's finally at peace.

Something in her gut tugs hard, a spinning dizziness in her brain as blackness consumes her mind. It pulls harder, buzzes in her ears as she falls through blank space and time, a weight in her chest beginning to deepen, crushingly tight with every second. It's blindingly painful, steals her breath, choking the air out of her lungs. Perhaps she doesn't get to move on like Robin did. Perhaps this is how villains live in the eternal afterlife - repenting for the sins with everlasting anguish.

"Mom? Mom, wake up!"

Her eyes flutter, blink slowly open, squint in the harsh, bright light bursting from the ceiling.

"Mom? Can you hear me?"

A soft hand grabs her own, stroking gently over her knuckles as she fights off the fog in her brain. "Mom, it's us."

She turns, grimaces at the heaviness still lingering in her chest, but she's met with a pair of bright, chestnut brown eyes.

"Roland?"

"You're okay?!"

She's smothered in seconds, his body wrapping around hers tightly as his shoulders shake, a hard swallowed, _I thought we lost you,_ muffled into her neck. Hugging her one son, she feels her hand being squeezed by another, hazel gaze leveling into view.

"You should not have done that," Henry huffs with a scowled smile.

"I'm your mother Henry, I wasn't going to just let you die."

"I know, but I'd like to keep us both around if that's alright with you."

A laugh bubbles out of her as Roland shifts, helping her up so she can hug her eldest boy.

"How did you get me back?"

Henry shrugs, runs a hand through his hair and flicks his eyes over to Roland, who looks equally stunned. "Bee did it." He turns, shifts enough so Regina can see her niece standing dumbfounded on the spot, staring down at her open palms in shock.

"I have no idea how I did it." The young girl stammers, "All I know is that I thought I was going to lose you and I've lost my dad and I just - I wasn't ready to give up that connection to him - to give you up - none of us were - I still need you - Henry and Roland - they just touched me and my magic went crazy."

Regina moves, lacing Bee's hands in her own, smiling wetly before wrapping her arms around her. "Thank you."

"Don't ask me to do it again cause I won't know how." Bee chuckles in disbelief, shaking her head as Roland and Henry slide on either side of she and Regina.

Henry presses a kiss to Regina's temple, blowing out a much relieved breath as Regina too sighs. "Let's go home, I have something to tell all of you." She ignores their curious, cocked brows, tries to not smile at the matching expression of Roland and Bee, one so similar to their father's. She simply takes Henry's arm, leans against his shoulder and lets him lead her home.

It feels different.

She feels different, lighter in the recesses of her heart. An invisible thorn, long stabbing through her, suddenly gone, the deep guttural guilt floating away, filled with a silent serenity in it's place.

He's at peace. He's okay.

And she will be with him again.

Fin.


End file.
